PROFILBARU.COM

José Romero y Fernández de Landa
José Romero y Fernández de Landa
Born	27 May 1735; Huelva
Died	5 August 1807 (aged 72); Madrid
Other work	Naval engineer

José Romero y Fernández de Landa (1735–1807), better known as Romero Landa^[1] was a Spanish military officer who was the Spanish Navy's first official naval engineer and ship designer. He designed several two-and three-deck ships of the line in the late 18th and early 19th centuries which fought at the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar.

He is also notable as the writer of Reglamento de maderas necesarias para la fábrica de los baxeles del Rey (Rules for the wood necessary for building the King's ships), published in 1784,^[1] and which specified the number and dimensions of the hulls, equipment, masts and rigging for ships of 100, 74, 64 and 34 guns.^[1]

Life

On 27 May 1752 Romero Landa joined the Regimiento de Dragones de Edimburgo at Villa de Arcos, commanding a company. In 1754 he transferred to the navy, becoming an 'alférez de fragata' (ensign) and commanded the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of Marines at Ferrol.

On 1 November 1765 he started working at the shipyard at Guarnizo, under the ship designer Francisco Gautier. In October 1770, on the creation of the Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Marina, he was one of its few officials from the Cuerpo de Oficiales de Guerra to join the new body. Promoted to frigate captain, he was appointed Commandant of the Engineers and Engineer General, rising to Engineer General of the Fleet on 28 January 1786.

Warships designed by Romero Landa

112-gun ships

Launch date	Name	Alias/Advocacy	Shipyard	In service
28 September 1784	Santa Ana	Santana	Ferrol^[2]	1784–1816^[1]
20 January 1786	Mejicano	San Hipólito	Havana^[3]
4 November 1786	Conde de Regla	Nuestra Señora de Regla (Our Lady of Regla)	Havana^[3]
2 May 1787	Salvador del Mundo	El Salvador	Ferrol^[2]
4 November 1787	Real Carlos	Santiago	Havana^[3]
20 January 1789	San Hermenegildo		Havana^[3]
12 September 1791	Reina María Luisa	Reina Luisa (Queen Louise)	Ferrol^[2]
28 January 1794	Príncipe de Asturias	Los Santos Reyes (The Holy Kings)	Havana^[3]	1794–1812^[1]

74-gun ships

Launch date	Name	Alias/Advocacy	Shipyard	In service
22 January 1785	San Ildefonso	San Ildefonso, Segovia	Cartagena^[4]	1784–1805–1816^[1]
20 June 1788	San Telmo		Ferrol^[2]
20 December 1788	San Francisco de Paula		Cartagena^[4]
19 October 1789	Europa	San Lesmes	Ferrol^[2]
20 November 1790	Intrépido		Ferrol^[2]
9 December 1791	Conquistador		Cartagena^[4]
22 November 1792	Infante don Pelayo		Havana^[3]
1794	Monarca^[1]		Ferrol	1794–1805^[1]

64-gun ships

The three 64-gun ships designed by Romero Landa were an extension of his 74-gun designs, changing its main dimensions on a scale of α=49,5/52.

Launch date	Name	Shipyard	In service
3 November 1787	San Fulgencio	Cartagena^[4]
27 November 1787	San Leandro	Ferrol^[2]	1787–1812^[1]
27 June 1788	San Pedro Alcántara	Havana^[3]

Frigates

Launch date	Name	Shipyard
12 March 1784	Santa Casilda	Cartagena^[4]
4 March 1786	Santa Florentina	Cartagena^[4]
3 May 1788	Nuestra Señora de la Soledad	Cartagena^[4]
2 October 1789	Mahonesa	Mahón
31 July 1789	Perla	Cartagena^[4]
1791	Preciosa	Cádiz

Battle of Trafalgar

Five of the ships built to Romero Landa's design saw action at Trafalgar:^[1]

Santa Ana (112 guns)
Príncipe de Asturias (112 guns)
San Ildefonso (74 guns)
Monarca (74 guns)
San Leandro (64 guns)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Fernández-González, Francisco (2012). "Ship structures under sail and under gunfire" (PDF). Universidad Politécnica de Madrid: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Navales. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Listado de barcos de los Reales Astilleros de Esteiro" (PDF). Armada 1500–1900. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g bpvillena.ohc.cu (ed.). "La Habana antigua y moderna. Capítulo X. Arsenal". Retrieved 28 July 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h digitum.um.es (ed.). "Cartagena: El Arsenal Ilustrado del Mediterraneo español" (PDF). Retrieved 28 July 2009.

Bibliography

Juan-García Aguado, José María (1998). José Romero Fernández de Landa, un Ingeniero de Marina del Siglo XVIII. Universidade da Coruña. ISBN 84-89694-66-4

External links

List of ships

[fernandez-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Fernández-González, Francisco (2012). "Ship structures under sail and under gunfire" (PDF). Universidad Politécnica de Madrid: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Navales. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

[armada.net-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Listado de barcos de los Reales Astilleros de Esteiro" (PDF). Armada 1500–1900. Retrieved 28 July 2009.

[biblio-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g bpvillena.ohc.cu (ed.). "La Habana antigua y moderna. Capítulo X. Arsenal". Retrieved 28 July 2009.

[uni.murcia-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h digitum.um.es (ed.). "Cartagena: El Arsenal Ilustrado del Mediterraneo español" (PDF). Retrieved 28 July 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]